However,
the response by the Commission revealed that no information is being
collected on how the EU funds are being spent, when it comes to the
software used and developed by the beneficiary projects within Horizon
2020:

"[...] we checked if the requested information existed and the competent
Commission services informed us that the European Commission does not
systematically collect information about open source software used or
developed under Horizon 2020 grants, as this is not a reporting requirement
in the Horizon 2020 legal basis. Consequently we are not in a position
to provide you the information that you are looking for. The same applies
to data concerning Horizon 2020 projects paying licence fees for software
or developing software on their own."

Breaking down the EC's reply

The EC is justifying the lack of information with the argument that
"it is not legally mandatory" to collect data concerning the use and
acquisition of software licences.

According to the Article 14(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013
establishing Horizon 2020, particular attention in the framework shall
be paid to the development and application of key enabling and industrial
technologies as well as future and emerging technologies; and shall
contribute to the Digital Agenda for Europe initiative. Regarding this
particular point, the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 shall assess
the efficiency and use of resources, with particular attention to cross-cutting
issues and other elements referred in the Article 14(1). Software
is no doubt falling under all of the points that Horizon 2020 is supposed to
focus on when it comes to both industrial and emerging technologies, as
well as part of the Digital Agenda for Europe. The absence of monitoring
the use of resources Horizon 2020 projects are allocating to the use and
development of software in Research and Innovation will not allow
to assess the efficiency and use of resources of Horizon 2020 in its
Interim evaluation.

Indeed, in the
first Annual Monitoring Report 2014 which focuses on the implementation
of the first year of the programme, information regarding the share of
EU financial contribution to the Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) Research and Innovation was missing. According to
the second report for 2015, however, preliminary data show that over one fifth
of the EU funding in Horizon 2020 contributes to ICT Research and Innovation.

What "no information" means for Free Software and Open Science

The absence of data about the use of software within Horizon 2020
beneficiary projects makes almost impossible the accurate estimation of
the amount of both proprietary and Free Software, being used or developed
under Horizon 2020 grants.

Taking into consideration the fact that nowadays, scientists irrespective
of their field of study depend on software in order to successfully conduct
their research, it is indisputable that almost every beneficiary project
spends a considerable amount of the hand-out grant in the purchase of
software licences. The fact that the EC does not collect data on the
spending of public money for software licences disregards an essential
part of the modern research.

Consequently, without relevant data, Horizon 2020 monitoring and evaluation
processes cannot draw safe conclusions. Critical factors, such as the
re-use of software being developed with Horizon 2020 funding, or the
costs for re-purchasing the same licences cannot be scrutinized and therefore,
cannot lead decision-makers to optimised funding solutions. Albeit, the most
significant complication is the fact that the EC is not in position to
prove with a degree of certainty that Open Access and subsequently
Open Science, two of the Horizon 2020 most fundamental principles, are
implemented in practice. As already argued in the FSFE's
recent position paper, Open Science can neither be achieved nor be
sustainable in long-term without Free Software being its chief constituent.